Smiley Sadie :-)

Sadie is smiling!  And not that weird little reflexive smile that babies do in their sleep and in response to certain stimuli.  Real social smiles!  I don't know about you guys, but this is the first really great milestone to me.  It's the first time a baby "gives" something back to you.  Very young babies really don't do much.  But when they start doing stuff, aw it's the best.  Especially when they let you know that they appreciate you and all that you do for them.  I think that's what the first smile is all about.  It's like she's saying, "Hey, Mommy, thanks for dong everything for me and staying up with me at night.  Your reward is this adorable smile."  There are more rewards to come soon.  Yay motherhood!

Just One More Week!

One more week to enter the giveaway!  Click here for details!  It's easy!

Most Delicious Dinner Yet!

I was trying to wait until Sunday to post this but I can't!  This past Sunday, my husband and I enjoyed our most favorite Weight Watchers meal to date.  It was Ginger-Lime Chicken with Easy Fried Rice.  Soooo yummy!  No, I mean, I think I will write a review on the website.  And I'm eating it for lunch again today.  And I might make it again later in the week if I have unused uncooked chicken.

Here are the recipes:

Ginger Lime Chicken
Ingredients
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (I used regular Tamari)
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp lime zest, finely minced
2 Tbsp ginger root, finely minced or grated
2 cloves garlic, minced (I think I used about 4)
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp chili oil, or other hot oil
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped, divided
1 pound, uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast, four 4 oz pieces
2 Tbsp uncooked scallion, finely minced

Instructions
1. In a large, non-reactive bowl, combine soy sauce, lime juice, lime zest, ginger, garlic, honey, oil, and 2 tablespoons cilantro; mix well.  Remove and reserve 2 tablespoons of the marinade.  Add chicken to the bowl, tossing to make sure each piece is coated; refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.  (Hey!  Make sure not to marinate this overnight.  You don't want to marinate the meat in lime juice overnight.  It can make the chicken mealy.)
2. Preheat broiler to high.  Remove chicken from marinade and place in a baking dish; discard marinade.  Broil chicken, 4 to 6 minutes; flip and brush chicken with reserved marinade.  Return chicken to oven and broil until chicken is cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes more.
3. To serve, sprinkle chicken with scallions, remaining 2 tablespoons cilantro and any sauce accumulated in baking dish.  Yields 1 chicken breast and about 1/3 cup sauce per serving.


Easy Fried Rice
Ingredients
2 sprays cooking spray
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup uncooked carrots, shredded
1 cup uncooked scallion, sliced, divided
3 cups cooked white rice
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce, or to taste (I probably used about 1/3 cup of regular Tamari)

Instructions
1. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; warm pan over medium-high heat.  Add eggs and tilt pan so that eggs cover bottom.
2. When eggs start to set, break them up into pieces with a heat-proof spatula or wooden spoon.  Cook until eggs are cooked through, about 1 minute more; remove eggs from skillet and set aside.
3. Off heat, recoat same skillet with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat.  Add carrots and all but 2 tablespoons scallions; saute until carrots are crisp-tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Stir in cooked rice, peas, and soy sauce; cook until heated through, stirring once or twice, about 1 minute.  Gently stir in cooked egg and remaining scallions; heat through.  Yields about 3/4 cup per serving.

Bon appetit!

Naptime Nightmares

Oh dear.  Naptime is nightmarish.  When did this happen?  Sasha has never loved naps but these days, she acts like we're killing her slowly when we put her down.  I'm blaming it somewhat on the terrible twos but I'm really putting most of the blame on her daycare.

As I just said, Sasha has never liked naptime but she usually went down with minimal fuss because she knew there was no getting out of it.  She would cry and complain for a few minutes but then she was asleep because she was sleepy.  It's easy to tell when Sasha is sleepy; I am rarely wrong when I say she needs a nap.  Sasha, however, does not always know that she is sleepy.  Sometimes she wants to stay up and play.  Do you know why?  Because she is a small child who is not capable of recognizing all her feelings and acting appropriately.  She needs someone to help her and make decisions for her.  Enter: caregiver.

For some reason, Sasha's babysitter thinks that Sasha is able to make decisions about naptime on her own.  She thinks that if Sasha fusses to nap it means that she's not sleepy.  This is clearly not the case.  I just put Sasha down for a nap.  She threw a crazy tantrum.  I took her out, read her a story, and put her little butt back in the crib, where she screamed for approximately 2 minutes before falling soundly asleep.  Does she scream like a maniac for a little bit?  Yes!  Because she's a toddler who wants to control her own life.  But I have news for her: she can't control everything.  In fact, she can't control most things.  She's not even 2 years old.  Duh.  I'm the adult; I know what's best.  Period.

Yes, I am that kind of mother.  My kids don't run things.  I do.  I adore them.  I mean, I love them to pieces.  And that's precisely why I set clear limits for them.  Loving your children does not mean letting them do what the hell they want to.  In fact, just the opposite is true, if you ask me.  Apparently, Sasha's daycare disagrees.  *sigh*  Clearly, I'm going to have to have another talk with her.

Week 2 - Love your condiments

I lost 4 pounds this week!  So that's a total of 7 pounds since I started 2 weeks ago.  I don't feel deprived at all and I'm eating really healthy!  I didn't even get to walk this week since it rained just about everyday but I still lost weight because I've been eating well.  I had lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I think I have to start grocery shopping every week instead of every other week, though, because fresh produce doesn't last that long in the fridge.  I even had Japanese food for dinner on Thursday and went to my brother's pizza & beer celebration on Saturday night.  I dipped into my weekly allowance points (for splurges, I guess) and still lost a considerable amount of weight.

I am all about condiments, especially salsa verde.  Seriously, where has this zero point condiment been my whole life?!  It is so healthy and flavorful.  I put it on sandwiches, eggs, salads, in sauces, everywhere!  It is so yummy and it costs me none of my daily points.  Also on the favorites list: Dijon mustard and homemade chipotle light mayo.

This week, I was much less hungry and much more satisfied since I shopped specifically for the diet.  I need to adjust my menus to what's on sale at the grocery store though because eating healthy can put a dent in your wallet if you're not careful, especially when it comes to meats and fish.  I also need to see what produce is on sale.  First of all, out of season fruits and veggies cost a lot.  Right now, for example, berries are in season so it makes much more sense to buy them now than in the winter when they cost a fortune.  And they taste better when they're in season.  Also, Sasha never met a fruit she doesn't like so I have to buy enough for me and her (and that's a lot).

Here are a few things I made this week:

Baked French toast with strawberry coulis (I'm fancy, right?)

That is a barbecue chicken pizza :-)

That is lemon pasta.  Not a hit.  Sasha didn't like it and neither did I.  It happens sometimes.

We even had takeout.  I was in the mood for Asian food and Japanese is the easiest takeout to do on a diet.  I had vegetable gyoza (only 1 point each!) and sushi.  Yesterday was my brother's birthday party and the theme was pizza and beer.  I didn't even go over my points for the day; I just watched my portions carefully.  I still had a couple points left over to have a creamsicle (2 points).

A great thing that Weight Watchers does is it gives you extra "weekly" points that you can spend any way you want.  So I get 49 weekly points.  I could spend them all in one day on a huge splurge or I can use them as a cushion for just in case I go over my points.  I used about 7 of those weekly points this week on random things here and there.  I was really hungry on Wednesday for some reason and was still hungry at 9 PM after I used up my 40 points so I dipped into my weekly allowance.  I love it because I don't feel guilty about going over my points and I feel especially proud when I don't dip into them.

Seven pounds down...about 23 to go!

Sadie is 1 month old!

Yes, folks.  Can you believe a month has passed already?!  I feel like I was just in the hospital, but no, Sadie is exactly 1 month old today...and she's much bigger!  I swear, she's like twice as big.  Her pediatrician says it's the breast milk because breastfed babies grow faster.  I don't know if that's true, but I'll take it!

Sadie is still a tiny, little, helpless thing but she can do some stuff.  She holds her head up really well (she's been doing it since birth!) for a longer time.  She can track objects with her eyes.  She imitates sometimes.  If I stick out my tongue, she does too!  Tee hee.  She's so adorable, I could just munch on her little chunky legs.  She will NOT sleep in her bassinet.  Only on soft things like our bed or a pillow.  Can't blame the girl there.  I only sleep on soft things too.  She hates being swaddled.  She makes the cutest little mean faces.  My husband calls her Sour Power because of all the sour faces she makes.

She got her very first bottle on Wednesday, which her father fed her, and she was hesitant at first but she drank from it.  Of course, there was breast milk in the bottle, don't be silly.  I waited until 4 weeks to introduce the bottle just to be sure that breastfeeding was well-established first.  But it had to be done since I'll be going back to work in mid-June :-( My mother will watch her for 2 weeks until summer vacation starts (yay!) so I wanted to make sure that she would actually take the bottle and give her some time to adjust to it.  So she will get one bottle per day until I go back to work.  Sasha would never take a bottle from me, only from other people.

Speaking of Sasha, she is the cutest with Sadie.  She gives Sadie kisses on her head and then says "Yaaaay!"  Hahaha!  She also doesn't like me leaving without Sadie.  Once I was leaving Sadie with my mother for a few minutes and Sasha was so reluctant to leave without her.  It was really, really precious.  She was pointing to Sadie and making her question noises as if she were saying, "Why are we leaving her?"  Aw, what a great big sis.  A lot of people say that the way the older sibling reacts to the new baby is what determines how hard it will be to have a second baby.  Sasha is adjusting really well, better than I ever expected, so that makes the jump from 1 to 2 much easier (MUCH easier than 0 to 1, if you ask me).  It also helps that Sasha goes to daycare during the week.  I pick her up at about 3.  On the weekends, my husband is home and Sasha looooves her daddy.  We will see what happens when I go back to work and have to get both of them and myself out the door every morning...

Happy 1 month to my little baby, Sadie!

First Giveaway!

Yay!  Who doesn't love free stuff??  There are 2 prizes for 2 lucky winners. Here they are:


That's a tummy time mat.  It's loads of fun for babies and gives them much needed tummy time.  It retails for about $30.


That's a Huggies gift set.  It includes newborn diapers, size 1 diapers, wipes, a wipes container, and diaper rash cream.  It also retails for about $30.

All you have to do to be eligible to win is follow or subscribe (which you can do right there ----> on the right side).  The winners will be chosen randomly on Wednesday, June 6, 2012.  Good luck!

Breastfeeding Problems: Forceful Letdown

Breastfeeding is wonderful and natural but sometimes there can be problems.  Sadie and I worked on latching much longer than Sasha and I did.  Sadie was about 2 and a half weeks before she latched correctly more than half the time (meaning, it didn't hurt me).  Sadie is 4 weeks old now and latches correctly on the first try more than 90% of the time (thank goodness).  But we're facing another problem now.

I seem to have an oversupply of milk.  The same thing occurred when Sasha was little.  My letdown is quite forceful (it actually hurts me a little sometimes).  Are you asking what "letdown" is?  It's a reflex that occurs after baby has been nursing for short time.  When the milk "lets down," it starts coming out faster and baby's swallowing changes.  My letdown occurs quickly (less than a minute after feeding starts) and forcefully.  That sounds like a good thing but it's not for a baby as little as Sadie.

When my milk lets down, Sadie coughs, makes a clicking sound when she sucks, and sometimes she fusses and pulls off the breast.  She's also excessively gassy and spits up too often.  She's basically struggling to keep up with my milk flow.  She also doesn't really like to nurse for comfort (non-nutritive nursing) because there's ALWAYS a lot of milk coming out.  No, seriously, my breasts seem to never be empty.  Poor baby.  Anyway, this is affecting our nursing and I don't want her to become a reluctant feeder.

Undersupply is a huge problem for a lot of women, but oversupply is a problem too!  So I've been trying to remedy the problem.  For one thing, I pump once per day to build up my freezer stash but when I do, I don't pump until my breasts are empty.  The cardinal rule of breastfeeding is more milk out means more milk made.  So the more milk I pump, the more milk my breasts will make and I'm trying to make a little less.  I also never feed Sadie from a firm, overfull breast.  If my breasts are firm and overfull, I pump a small amount of milk before feeding her.  I do this especially because if my breasts are really full, that means there's a lot of foremilk in there.  If baby is getting too much foremilk, that will contribute to gassiness.

I'm also feeding Sadie in an upright position more often and also in the side-lying position.  This can help her cope with the flow of milk better.  I'm burping her a lot and only offering one breast at each feeding.  I am also feeding her more often.  If she sleeps too long, I wake her to eat a little to make sure that my breasts are not filling up with foremilk that spurts into her mouth.  If my letdown feels especially strong, I will unlatch Sadie, catch the milk that's pouring out with a towel, and then put her back on the breast.  That works really well, actually.

I have seen advice that recommends I feed Sadie when she's sleepy.  This never works for us.  The idea is that she will not suck as vigorously so the letdown reflex won't happen as quickly.  First of all, it doesn't matter how gently she sucks, my milk still comes flying out.  Secondly, she doesn't get enough to eat when she's sleepy.

Anyway, I don't want my letdown to get slow either.  It will slow eventually but I don't want to have an undersupply because that's a harder problem to fix, if you ask me.  So I'm trying to maintain a supply that meets my baby's needs.  Easier said than done, let me tell you!

I Heart Babywearing

Sadie and I love babywearing.  She's sleeping in her wrap right now, listening to my heartbeat.  She gets to be close to me and I get to have both hands free, which is absolutely necessary when my toddler is home and when I need to make a meal.  I use my stretchy wrap in the house and my woven wrap outside.  I used the woven wrap on a walk and at the grocery store.  My niece made them for me.  (Check out her stuff at www.shopkchanei.com)

I plan on purchasing an Ergo carrier for when she is a little older, especially because you can breastfeed in it.  I am waiting on that purchase because I don't really like carriers for newborns.  I really like the wraps for a baby Sadie's age and size.  But I have heard rave reviews for the Ergo.

Some people have mentioned that I am "spoiling" Sadie by wearing her.  I also keep her in our bed at night.  Sue me.  I want to get some sleep too.  As far as I know, newborns can't be "spoiled."  She is too young to be expected to soothe herself; I'm certainly not going to just let her cry.  If she likes being in a wrap against her mommy, I will certainly oblige.  Check out this website 

Here are a couple of pictures!  Ok so admittedly not the best pictures...

Yup, there's a comfy little baby in there :-)  Babywearing for Sadie + Sesame Street for Sasha = me getting dinner on the table every night!

What's for dinner?

Mmm mmm!  Broiled steak and peppers with spicy green sauce and rice.  Yum!  Even Sasha liked it!

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
3 sprays cooking spray
12 oz uncooked lean flank steak (I used a pound)
2 medium yellow peppers, quartered and seeded
1 medium poblano chile, quartered and seeded
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (I didn't measure and used more)
1 tsp dried oregano (I didn't measure)
1/2 tsp salt (I didn't measure, I never measure seasonings)
1 cup cilantro leaves
3/4 cup fat free salsa verde
2 Tbsp reduced fat sour cream

Instructions
1. Preheat broiler.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil, or line with regular foil and coat with cooking spray.
2. Place steak and peppers on prepared pan; coat with cooking spray.
3. In a small cup, combine cumin, oregano, salt (I just put it directly on the steak and peppers); coat with cooking spray.
4. Broil 3 to 4 inches from heat, turning peppers and steak halfway through cooking, about 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare, or longer until desired degree of doneness.  Remove steak to a cutting board; let stand for 5 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, put cilantro, salsa, and sour cream in a blender or food processor; process until smooth.
6. Slice steak thinly across the grain.  Put steak and peppers on a serving platter and serve with salsa mixture.  Yields about 2 1/2 ounces steak, 3 pieces of pepper, and 1/4 cup salsa mixture per serving.

Enjoy!

Week 1 -- It's all in the planning

I have completed 1 week of my weight loss plan.  I have realized that losing weight is all about planning.  By planning my menu before going to the grocery store, not only do I save money but I'm more likely to stick to healthy purchases.  Also, I can avoid what happened to me this past week - extreme hunger due to lack of groceries.  By Wednesday I was totally out of fresh fruits and vegetables.  I was also out of bread, peanut butter, and all snacks.  Poor planning will totally mess with your diet.  I planned poorly because I didn't anticipate starting Weight Watchers so soon.  But don't worry, I'm all set for this week and next week.  I picked out a bunch of yummy recipes and made a shopping list of all the ingredients.  We went to the grocery store yesterday and spent a kajillion dollars on healthy stuff.

I tried to exercise on Monday.  I did a moderate workout with a video but a few hours later, my bleeding started again.  Womp womp.  Obviously just because I'm feeling up to it does not mean my body is ready.  I decided to give it a week before trying again.  I want to keep walking but the weather around here was not agreeable.  Everyday that it didn't rain, though, I took a 2 mile walk with my mom at a moderate pace (about 20 minutes per mile).

So how much weight did I lose this week?  Three pounds!  That's not that much, but I don't want to lose weight super fast nor do I want to compromise the quality of my breast milk.  (The amount of milk produced is based on how often I nurse but the quality of the milk is based on my diet.)  I am pleased with my progress.  Yesterday we had (my husband and I) a cheddar, apple, and walnut salad for lunch and Cajun chicken wraps for dinner.  They were tasty!  Tonight we will have broiled steak with a spicy green sauce.  I will post a picture and that recipe later.  This morning I made blueberry breakfast crisp and topped Sasha's waffle with the blueberry mixture which she loved.  I think the chefs who make the Weight Watchers recipes are geniuses because the ones that are rated 4 or 5 stars are quite delicious, yummy enough that my family likes them too.  The recipes are really worth the money Weight Watchers costs, in my opinion.  I also really love the tracker and now that I have the app on my phone, it's awesome.  I really watch what I eat and make it count.  I think I eat much healthier when I'm on Weight Watchers because I don't want to waste points on junk food.  I definitely eat way more fruits and vegetables.

Because Sadie gets breast milk only, I get a ton of daily points.  I get 40 points per day, which is a LOT.  Sometimes I don't even know what to do with all of them.  Yesterday evening, I still had 13 points left.  So I ate some snacks (5 crackers, 2 Tbsp of peanut butter, strawberries, and a glass of skim milk) but I was still left with 3 unused points at the end of the day.  I sometimes just cannot eat all those points, especially because fruits, one of my favorite snacks, are zero points.

Anyway, I must say that eating well and walking everyday has me feeling pretty good.  Sometimes I don't want to go walking because I'm lazy, but if it's nice out, I get my butt outside and I never regret it.  Luckily, my mom always wants to walk so she's a good walking buddy.  She might even start Weight Watchers again because she wants to lose 10 pounds.  I hope she does because it's fun to have a Weight Watchers buddy too.  Losing weight is much more fun when you have company.

The Nurse Said What?!

I posted about my labor and delivery experience and mentioned an obnoxious nurse.  Here are some things she said:

• "Why did you bring all these expensive things?"  (Referring to my iPod, Nook, and cell phone which were brought mostly to distract me from pain and entertain me after birth.  Oh she was also talking about my wedding rings.)
• When she started to place my IV, I said, "My veins are small so please use a small needle."  She attempts to draw blood from me, fails, and leaves the room to "get a smaller needle."  While she's out, my vein, like, explodes or something, and there's blood everywhere.  I call her loudly.  She comes back and says, "Oh my goodness!  Why didn't you call me?  This never happens to me.  Now I look like a butcher."  Yes, worry about you.  Not my profuse bleeding.  She attempts to place my IV twice more and fails.  Another nurse comes in, tells her to "get out of the way" (hahahaha), and places my IV easily.  She also gets all the blood she needs.
• "You don't seem like you're from around here.  Where are you from?"  This is during a contraction.  She knew I was contracting because she was looking at the monitor.  Small talk right now, bitch?  I'm like 7 centimeters dilated and I'm not on pain meds.  I can't talk!
• "These are some big contractions!  I mean, they are not small!  You must really be in pain!"  Um, yes, I would say so.  If you couldn't tell by the anguish on my face.  Aren't you supposed to be relaxing me?
• "You already have a daughter?  And you're having another one already?"  Ugh.
• I could not pee for anything when I got to the hospital, because I was contracting often and heavily.  The nurse asked me a million times to pee; I told her a million times that I could not.  She says, I swear she really said this, "Are you trying to hide something?"  Me (through deep breathing during a contraction): "Huh?" Nurse: "Because sometimes we have women who don't pee for hours because they're trying to avoid a drug screen."  Me: *SHOCKED*

I could think of a few more but this gives you a good idea of how annoying she was.  Honestly, I can't think of a worse time to be annoyed than when you're in active labor.  You would think that everyone would be annoying at that time, right?  But no, none of the other nurses or aides annoyed me.  The midwives did not annoy me.  My husband did not annoy me.  But she made me want to cut her every second I was in her presence.  Luckily, when my husband came back, she made herself somewhat scarce.  And her shift was over at 8, about 2 hours after I got to my room.  Sadie was born at 8:01 so she was gone right after delivery.  But what a long 2 hours it was.

Most Popular Names of 2011

I was reading about the most popular names for babies last year and I was really surprised at the list!  Here's the list for girls:
Sophia
Isabella
Emma
Olivia
Ava
Emily
Abigail
Madison
Mia
Chloe
And here's the list for boys:
Jacob
Mason
William
Jayden
Noah
Michael
Ethan
Alexander
Aiden

Daniel

The girls' list surprised me the most.  No Jennifer or Stephanie or Danielle.  That's interesting to me because I think it signals a cultural shift.  It really seems like celebrities have a huge impact on the names we give our children.  I think the Ava trend started when Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe gave that name to their daughter.  Madison is a popular celebrity name too.  The boys' name are interesting too. Mason is clearly a nod to Kourtney Kardashian and Jayden can be attributed to the Smiths and Britney Spears.

Personally, I try to stay off the top 10 list when coming up with names for my kids.  I actually really like the names on both lists but I don't want my kids to have super popular names.  As someone with a pretty unique name, Shani, I never had to go by "Shani H." in school because there was another one in my class.  But there was always like a "Robert T." and a "Robert B." or a "Danielle G." and a "Danielle M."  But at the same time, I want my kids to be able to get jobs.

That's beside the point, though.  What do you think about the top baby names?

Mother's Day Resolution

I was reading today about Mother's Day resolutions that we all should make and I'm taking one directly off the list.  I'm going to take better care of myself and make time for my beauty routines even though I have two small children.  Basically, I will not let myself go.

But before we get into that, what a beautiful day it was today.  My kids slept late (until like 8:30!).  We had Jamaican breakfast at my mom's house.  My husband cleaned the kitchen and living room and is making me breakfast for dinner.  We took a nice, almost 2-mile walk.  Lovely!

Back to my resolution, I rejoined Weight Watchers today and ordered some workout videos from Amazon.  Someone very helpful commented on my previous post and suggested that I get at-home workout videos since getting to the gym will probably be about impossible for me for a while.  After some thought, I agreed!  If I do my at-home thing, I can afford Weight Watchers and exercise, which I think is a better recipe for success.  Another thing is that I can hold myself more accountable since it doesn't require me leaving the house so that means less excuses!  I think when my children are a little older, I will get myself a gym membership.

So I plan to do Weight Watchers, work out with my videos at least 5 days per week for 1 hour, and walk with the babies and my mom.  I'm feeling just about back to normal, my bleeding has ceased completely, and I am feeling more motivated than I probably ever will again so I want to take advantage of that.  I will wait a couple more weeks before I start working on my abs, though, because the gap between the muscles needs to close a little more to avoid injury.

Remember, my goal is to lose 30 pounds by Christmas, which I think is plenty of time.  I'm currently one hundred and [mumbles] pounds.  Hahaha!  No, seriously, I will reveal my starting weight when I get to my target.  You probably won't believe me, although I swear all the weight is in my boobs and my belly.  I would like to keep the boobs but lose the belly.

So since I do my weigh-ins on Weight Watchers on Sundays, I will be sure to check in with you on Sundays too.  I hope by blogging about this, I will really stick to my plan since I have an audience to keep me in check :-)  I will also post my favorite recipes and complain about how much I hate working out.  I wish I could get to the supermarket this week but I think I will have to wait until next week which means I will probably lose more weight next week than this week since I will have more fresh fruits and veggies then.  I'm excited and will try my best to stay motivated.

Happy Mother's Day!

Satin Crib Sheet Review

Hahaha!  I'm laughing at the title of this post.  Yes, I bought a satin crib sheet for my oldest.  Listen, the back of her hair was having some problems and since she still sleeps on her back and is too young to actually keep on a satin bonnet, I thought this would be the best solution.

Since she's been sleeping on her back for so long, there was a little spot on the back of her head where the hair was breaking.  The cotton sheet she was sleeping on was not helping so I went to sharmooz.com and got her a satin crib sheet.  She's been sleeping on it for about 2 weeks now and it's definitely working.  Her little spot is filling in well and her curls are much more defined for much longer.

I usually wear a satin bonnet or scarf to sleep and it keeps my hair moisturized longer and keeps my curls looking good.  So much better than just sleeping on a cotton pillowcase.  You can also get a satin pillowcase but I find the bonnet or scarf locks the moisture in better.  Unfortunately, my 20-month-old will not keep anything on her head.  But if you're having a hard time with hair growth at the back of your daughter's head, try a satin crib sheet, along with proper hair care, of course.

Toddler for sale!

Ok not really.  I'm not selling my darling firstborn but I'm not opposed to adoption.  Ok, yes I am.  But she really is driving me out of my mind,  Did you know that a person smaller than 3 feet tall and less than 30 pounds could make you want to drink heavily?  Are the terrible twos going to get worse when she actually turns 2?  God, I hope not.  Most articles say that it's the second year of life that causes trouble.  They were not lying.  Maybe turning 2 is the cure?  It sounds terrible but I miss the old, cooperative Sasha.

She just gave me a most difficult time.  I can't believe she was ever Sadie's age.  Sadie is so small and helpless. Sasha is clearly trying to show me that she is neither small nor helpless.  I get it.  She's a big girl and wants to assert her independence.  I'm all for that.  I let her do stuff.  But it's like she knows that I let her do stuff that doesn't really "matter" and she wants to do stuff that matters.  The child is working my nerves.  I just put her little butt to bed at 5:45, probably the earliest she has ever gone to bed, because she was exhausted and absolutely refused to nap.  I mean, REFUSED.  We tried for over an hour.  But eventually, the screaming started to compromise my sanity so I went ahead and did her nighttime routine.  She's now in her bed, quiet.  I bet a million dollars she's sleeping.  I wish she could understand reason because if she had just napped for an hour, she would have been refreshed, could have played some more, seen her dad before bedtime, had some juice and some dessert.  Now she's in bed, which means she'll most definitely be up before the crack of dawn tomorrow.  Oh joy.

Sigh.  These in-between stages are the worst.  Toddlerhood is really just a step between infancy and childhood.  Just like adolescence is the step between childhood and adulthood.  That's what makes teenagers annoying.  They don't know their roles and they're testing boundaries and shit.  That's what toddlers are doing too.  And in the process, they annoy the crap out of their parents.  In all fairness, the nap thing wasn't her fault.  Her sitter refuses to believe me when I say that she needs 2 naps per day.  So when she comes home, she's tired because she's only taken 1 nap and it was hours ago.  And tired Sasha is very, very cranky.  And I guess crankiness leads to extreme stubbornness.  She got her stubbornness honestly though.

Ok, I just need to power through!  I will be reading my parenting tips faithfully and hoping that this stage passes soon.  I will drink my small iced coffee (I'm nursing, can't go overboard) because caffeine makes it easier to deal with her craziness.  Oh Sadie's doing great :-)  She's growing and being sweet so no problems there.  Pray for Sasha and me please.  Thanks.

Weight Loss Plan

Even though I didn't gain that much weight carrying Sadie (about 22 pounds) I was well over my target weight when I got pregnant.  I gained 50 pounds with Sasha, which I have mentioned many times because it's so horrifying, and I never lost all the weight.  I lost about 35 of those pounds so I still was about 15 pounds heavier than I wanted to be when I got pregnant with Sadie.  Well, technically, I lost 42 pounds and then gained some back...So now, I'm trying to lose all 22 pounds + an additional 15-20.  *sigh*  I don't think my body will ever be the way it was pre-pre-baby, but I would like to get rid of this belly and tone up.

Anyway, it's been about a week and a half since Sadie's birth and I've already lost just about all the weight I gained while I was pregnant (thanks, breastfeeding!), about 21 pounds so far.  But if I'm being honest, I would like to lose another 30 pounds.  I want to be close to my college weight.  Even though I can't work out yet and I'm not really supposed to be dieting yet either, I think it's time for me to formulate a plan to lose this weight before the holiday season.  My goal is to lose 30 pounds by Christmas.

I did Weight Watchers after Sasha and it was great.  Because I was exclusively breastfeeding, I got a bazillion points per day.  I could eat just about anything and still lose weight.  As a matter of fact, I had a hard time eating all my points everyday because there were so many!  I didn't really exercise though and that was a major flaw in my weight loss plan.  I would have lost all the weight and really fast if I had just added an exercise routine.  Weight Watchers was great because it made me obsess about everything I put in my mouth, and frankly, I think that works.

This time, though, I think I'm going to focus more on exercise since one of my goals is to firm up my body and get my abs back.  Pregnancy can wreak havoc on your abdominal muscles and since I had 2 babies close together and never got my abs back the first time, they're in terrible shape.  My abs are spread so far apart, I think I can touch my liver.  No, seriously, I need to wear a support belt because my back will hurt if I stand up too long without it.  That's how bad my abs are right now.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that.  But I was lazy so this is what I get.

Dieting is easier for me than exercise.  I hate exercising.  I always have.  I hate playing sports; there isn't an athletic bone in my body.  When I was younger, I could maintain my body easily because I was younger.  But now, I think I'm forced to exercise.  I have to pick Weight Watchers or gym membership because I really can't afford both.  So this time, I will pick gym membership.  Here are some challenges I think I will face:

1. I need a gym that is close by.  I mean walking distance.  If I have to drive, it seriously lowers the chance of me going regularly.  If I have to drive, it can't be more than a 5-8 minute drive.
2. I have 2 small children and I exclusively breastfeed the youngest.  How often will I actually get to the gym?  And when will I be able to go?  I would like to get there 4-5 times per week.  I wonder if I'm being realistic.  Of course, I will start pumping milk soon so that will help.
3. Did I mention that I hate working out?  Because I do.  I really, really do.  I especially hate ab work, which is what I really need.
4. I don't really know what I'm doing and a trainer is out of my budget.  I could do the research, I guess.

So that's it.  I actually plan on beginning light exercise this week.  I don't have to wait until my 6 week checkup to start because I had a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery.  So this week, I will start walking everyday and possibly doing some floor exercise.  After my 6 week checkup, I will start the gym and vow to go regularly, no matter how much I don't want to go.  I'm already eating pretty healthy but I'm going to really try to kick healthy eating into high gear this week.  So that's it.  I'm wide open to suggestions, people.  Help a girl out!

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Sadie's 1st Week

Sadie is a week old today already.  We also took her to the pediatrician today where she received a clean bill of health.  She is 10 ounces heavier than her birth weight which is excellent.  All her reflexes are in working order and she's doing great!

She is definitely more laid back than our first daughter was.  She can sleep through Sasha's noise like a champ and she's pretty good at night.  Last night, she slept for 4.5 hours straight before I woke her up to eat.  If you've ever been around a newborn, you know that's pretty good.  She breastfeeds well, although we're still having a little trouble getting her to open her mouth really wide.  She technically sleeps in a bassinet but I keep her in the bed too, which I know some people aren't fond of but it's how I get in a reasonable amount of sleep. Severe sleep deprivation would be a problem during the day when dealing with my toddler.  She is coming into her terrible twos and she's driving us a little nuts so minor sleep deprivation is all I can tolerate right now.

I hold Sadie all the time.  I mean, all the time.  I just can't get enough newborn goodness.  We all (my husband, Sasha, Sadie, and I) went on a walk yesterday and I did some babywearing in my woven wrap which was great but I think I over-exerted myself and so I'm trying to take it easy now.

It's funny because people kept saying how hard it would be with a newborn and a toddler but Sadie is not causing a problem around here.  Sasha is the one who is making us work.  I don't think she's jealous, but she is showing all the symptoms of the terrible twos.  Throwing tantrums, being a booger in general.  These signs have been apparent since before Sadie was born though.  Don't get me wrong, Sasha is not a terror.  But in comparison to her "old" self, it's a big change for us.  Sadie doesn't mind though.  She doesn't mind much, except getting her diaper changed.  She does not appreciate that.  

My husband is going back to work on Monday and I will miss him.  He has been a huge help, taking care of Sasha and helping with little things.  Sasha will go back to daycare on Monday.  I'm sure she misses her little friends and I would like to spend some one-on-one time with Sadie.  So that's how we're doing over here.  I'm loving my time at home with my family :-)